Friday Flash!

Just a word of warning here folks, I’m from the UK as such I describe here the ‘boot’ and ‘bonnet’ of a car, these translate as "Trunk" and "Hood" in American English.

"Hello, you’ve reached the AA breakdown line – can I take your account number please?""Yes, its 65432198."
"Thank you, and you are the account holder?"
"Yes."
"Thank you, for security please confirm the car registration and account address please…"
"YU56 CPJ, 42 Grant drive, Ipswitch"
"Okay, how can we help you today?"
"Well, my car has broken down on the highway – I have a flat and the engine wont start."
"Oh, right okay…. we’ll get someone out to you in around 30mins, is that okay?"
"Yes, thank you."

—

I could see the orange lights a mile away, whether they were for me or not I didn’t know, still it was about the right time for them.
Yup, sure enough it was.

The van pulled in just behind my car lights flashing away. I hoped against hope that I wouldn’t be too late to work.

"Hello there, I take it you were the one that called?"
"Yes."
"Cool, I have your registration mark here – but can I have your membership card too? Just to do the checks."
"Sure thing…"
"It’s been somewhat a double-trouble day! not only did I get a flat, my engine stopped as well, just as I pulled over!"
"Hehe, no worries – we’ll soon have you up and running again…"
"Best we start with the flat, huh? Is the boot open?"
"Yes, just go ahead, it’s open." I said, smiling.

I stepped out, "Do you need a hand?"
"Oh, no that’s okay, I can manage."
"Cool."
"So what happened when the car stopped?"
"Um, when I pulled over the engine kinda shuddered and died – I tried starting it up a few times, but didn’t manage to get it going."
"Ah, right, sounds like you might have a little fuel problem in there, I’ll take a look once I finish with the tyre."
"Right, I hope you can manage, I’ll need to be at work soon…"
"We’ll do our best for you! You’d best call ahead and let them know, don’t worry though – if I can’t get the car started I can take you along, where do you work?"
"Just along the road, about 10miles or so."
"Right, that wont be a problem. There, all done – now lets have a look at your engine shall we?"
"Oh, yeah, sure."

I leaned over and fumbled around to find the catch to open the bonnet before I made the call to the office.

—

"There you go, that’s your tyre done."
"Great, thanks."
"Do you mind getting around to the passenger side? I need to try the ignition."
"Oh, sure." I said, quickly evacuating the seat. She leaned in the drivers door and tried the ignition, it spluttered and failed just as it did with me. After opening the bonnet she leaned in to the engine compartment.

Standing beside the car on the passenger side, I could see the goodly shape of her bosom as she was tweaking the wires and lifting the various mechanical bits and pieces – now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the best with cars but seriously, women don’t usually fit the bill as auto engineers, do they? Heck, usually the ones that are Engineers are usually the type that are ‘butch’ or those you think must be gay or simply not interested in their appearance. But I tell you this lady had the lot, she was lovely. Granted, the overalls she wore almost hung on her, but really, you could see the catlike curves even through the loose overalls. Oh, don’t get me wrong she was strong, she fitted the tyre didn’t she? She was actually quite bulky but not like in an overweight way, well its kinda hard to explain if you didn’t see her.

"Aha! I found the problem…"
"You did? oh, great – what is it?"
"Well, it seems your fuel pipe there…" she said, pointing out a small white pipe " has a crack in it, and since you were slowing down – so did the fuel, which gave you a little air bubble – so your fuel wasn’t getting to the injectors."
"Oh, right – can you fix it?"
"Yup, just need to get a little cover for the crack then all we need to do is pump out the air and you should be on your way."
"That’s great news." I said through a smile I could barely hide, this woman had everything – the great looks, the magic touch, even the playful nature that’s the hallmark of all great women. I had to ask her, I had to speak to her , my heart was pounding.
"heeeh, its unusual for a lady to be doing this kind of thing isn’t it?" I said, as she looked up, she smiled (wow, great smile too) and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, like I haven’t heard THAT before!"
"Ahem, well, yes I guess….. " I could barely find the courage to bleat the words, but I had to, and quickly "You are an incredible woman."
"Haha! Nice try bub, but thank you anyway."

As she was looking at me, I could see it on her face, those deep hazel eyes, she was trying to read me. Trying to get a clue as to what kind of a weirdo I really was, I felt like one – a grade-A werido nutjob. I felt my face burn. I knew it was a shade of crimson red that wouldn’t look out of place on a kids balloon.
"Um…"

She paused for a second, switching her gaze between me and the car before she started fumbling with the engine once more and, for a few long moments there was silence as she was fiddling with the pipe and some sort of semi-circle plastic tubing she had pulled out of her toolbox, it had a coloured side, probably some sort of papery cover on the adhesive. A few long moments later her head rose from the compartment,
"There we go, let’s give that a shot."

She went to the drivers side again and turned the ignition and the engine roared to life once more.
"Right, that’s you all ready to go… now I’ll just get the papers for you to sign then I’ll let you get on to your work." I got the impression that she was hiding behind our professionalism, hey, can you blame her?

I felt like a complete idiot. Seriously, its not something you do, is it?
but god, she is something like I’ve never seen before. Taking a deep breath I tried to compose myself, there was no point to try and speak to her again – not on this blue moon anyway. She came back from her van with the papers in hand,
"Here you go, just sign here and here."
"Thanks." I added, trying to cut things short and make a sharp exit.

Signed papers in hand, she smiled at me (god what a smile), gave me my copy of the documents and left for her van.

In a few moments, the van was gone. I don’t know if I felt relieved or disappointed, I knew I’d probably never see her again – that Automobile Angel…

I took a seat back in the drivers side, ready to head to work – man, I’d be lucky to keep my job now, I did tell them I’d be late but I was already on shaky ground at that point. So, just before I headed off to my fate, I opened up the paper to check what she’d written about the problems…

"1. Put the spare tyre on the wheel, old tyre in boot.
2. Checked engine fault, fuel pipe crack responsible, added protective cover to affect temporary repair. Driver is advised to seek a permanent repair."

Then my signature and below that, in the space below:

"Hey, I’m probably going to regret this, heck you did come of a little weird to me but at the same time, there was something interesting about you. If you want to get to know me better, this is my number – don’t get any ideas though if you pull anything screwy I can block your number quick as anything. Elle"